Amid the gloom that sometimes permeates life around our community, there is still so much for which to be thankful. Including ...

» Spending my 23rd Thanksgiving in Stockton.

» The remarkably high voter turnout for the recent General Election.

» Our community's diversity.

» A four-year university that cares deeply about our community, its problems and opportunities.

» The master's degree that my wife received this year from that four-year university (Pacific).

» Walking around Stockton on weekdays and see the smiling faces of loads of children going to school downtown.

» All of our schools and teachers.

» The memories of the great Charles Washington calling me "Big Man."

» A newsroom staff that busts its collective tails for the benefit of our readers.

» Colleagues in other departments at The Record who do so much to help us on the "news side."

» Pro hockey in Stockton. I still, at times, can't believe we have it here.

» The gentle Delta breezes while sitting in the stands at Ports games.

» Judging spoken-word poetry competition in Stockton. These poets, most of them young, challenge the heck out of your traditional way of thinking.

» Bob Thomason and his quarter century (plus) of commitment to Pacific basketball.

» Chris Isaak songs. Any of them will do.

» Ethnic restaurants - I could eat at 14 different ones in 14 days if I wanted. Memo to self: try that.

» Record Family Day in the Park. Self-serving mention? Perhaps. But I love the event and the people it brings out each September.

» Jazz on the Miracle Mile. Need to go more often.

» Our men and women in law enforcement and the fire departments. They're sometimes at odds with the public and in the media over compensation issues, but make no mistake about what they mean to this community.

» News deadlines. They can be frenetic and even fun - as long as we don't miss too many of them.

» San Joaquin County's giving nature when it comes to United Way and nonprofits who make this a better place to live.

» Being a member of a gourmet group filled with wonderful friends who don't seem to mind that I really don't cook very well.

» Our new backyard. Overdue, but worth the wait.

» Knowing that - eventually - the changes will make things better on Interstate 5.

» Our readers - in print and online - and their willingness to challenge, criticize, compliment and suggest. That includes those who lose their cool with me - and once in a great while, the ones with whom I lose my cool.

» The Run/Walk for Hunger each Thanksgiving morning in downtown Stockton.

» The unbelievable sacrifices that our men and women in the military provide on a daily basis.

» Those big ships at the Port of Stockton. They never cease to amaze me.

» The arts in Stockton. May they continue to not only survive, but thrive.

» That this city might be fiscally bankrupt, but it is not so morally.

» The young people either ignoring or fighting the magnetic pull of gang life.

» Eating a deep-fried Twinkie at Flip's before Hostess announced it was going out of business.

» For those, regardless of political ideology, who have had the guts to run for public office.

» Facebook and the friends or acquaintances, young and old, with whom I've either connected or re-connected.

» Those who will shop locally on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season. Heck, throughout the year.

» The warm-hearted colleagues who didn't rub it in too badly when the boss' beloved Detroit Tigers got broomed by the world champion Giants.